'Kinect Sports' (Xbox 360)

Also available on: N/APublisher: Microsoft Game StudiosDeveloper: RareGenre: Sports

It may have come as some surprise that Kinect Adventures was chosen as the bundled software for Microsoft's latest piece of hardware instead of its sporty counterpart, especially after Wii Sports did such a good job of ingratiating itself to Wii users, and considering that Sony's Sports Champions is proving to be the most popular game to feature Move support. Despite a few of the games being a little lackluster, Adventures proved to be a solid start for Microsoft and does a good job of showing off the hardware's capabilities; therefore justifying its position as Kinect's showcase title. But, if truth be told, after spending some time with Kinect Sports, there's no denying that Rare's debut title is the better game, even though it should come with a health warning.

If active gaming is something that repels you then don't even think about picking up Kinect Sports. The six sports represented in the game all require some form of athleticism, plus there are numerous mini-games which will also work up a sweat. Much like Kinect Adventures, the game puts player's avatars in the spotlight, giving it that very cute and colourful graphical style, without offering any visual touches that will blow you away. The simple and basic imagery is helped along by some excellent presentation, and little flourishes such as opening ceremonies, ring entrances, dancing football managers and music and light shows when hitting a strike in tenpin bowling all contribute to the magic of the title. The highlight reels at the end of each event add a humorous touch to proceedings, with a short video package showing exactly what players look like when shadowboxing, running and jumping in their living rooms.

As far as the games themselves are concerned, the quality is fairly consistent throughout, despite there being far less emphasis on co-operative play. It's hard to pick a favorite, because the majority of the games have something to offer, as well as a few minor flaws stopping them from reaching true greatness. One ongoing issue with Kinect Sports is the noticeable lag between player's movements and the on-screen avatar's response, which is especially prominent in the table tennis. Luckily, what should be a game-ruining issue, is actually pretty easy to get used to, and simply swinging slightly earlier ensures that games are won and lost on merit instead of a hardware fault.

The worst game in the package is the soccer, which doesn't excel in single or multiplayer. The action in the soccer game flits between attack and defense, and will sometimes see the player controlling the goalkeeper. In attack, a number of arrows appear representing the direction the ball can be kicked, kick it into a defender's path and they get the ball, kick it to another player and they may well get the opportunity to take a shot. Shooting works in the same way, but the game doesn't pick up on curl or placement meaning that goals are often scored as a result of bumbling goalkeepers or set piece deflections. Defending simply requires players to move in place to block the trajectory of the ball which is quite easy to do, while goalkeeping is a matter of moving your arms to the right spot to catch or block the ball. Multiplayer is too confusing to be considered fun and it’s a bit of a lottery which player receives the pass in co-operative play, resulting in everybody kicking and dodging from side to side simultaneously in what turns out to be a messy free-for-all.

Beach volleyball is another game which has the potential to become quite chaotic in multiplayer, although it offers a far more true-to-life experience and is much more fun than its soccer counterpart. The movements are fairly realistic and see players bumping, setting and jumping to spike the ball over the net. Playing with more than one person can get a little physical if space is limited and points can be won or lost simply by being in your opponent's way - making Beach Volleyball one of the games which is probably more enjoyable (and safer) to play in single-player. Low ceilings and light fixtures are also prime candidates to take a pounding, so care is needed when playing in smaller rooms.

The table tennis, boxing and bowling are all exactly as one would expect and mirror their real-life equivalents quite nicely. The bowling isn't quite as satisfying as it is in Wii Sports, possibly due to the absence of any physical objects in player's hands - this makes it a little easier to master and results in fairly high scores from the get-go. Bowling does offer the most universal appeal, however, that's due to the fact that it's probably the most straightforward of the games and requires the least amount of physical fitness. The table tennis offers the most realistic experience, challenging players to move around the table and mix up their shots, despite the on-screen avatars occasionally standing and hitting the ball in unrealistic positions. Boxing is great fun in single and multiplayer although it does leave players a little sore around the shoulders after extended sessions. The recognition of the punches isn't always up to scratch either, which can be a little frustrating on harder settings. All three games don't require much in the way of darting or jumping around the room in order to play (although the boxing can be very tiring), and are therefore the best (and safest) games to play in groups.

The track and field events are likely to be the most divisive of the games featured in the title due to the sheer physicality of the sports included. Running, hurdling and launching javelins really take it out of you and will definitely prove to be a turn-off for some. It's also the most unbalanced of the games, because a young, fit person will have no problem walking away with the gold when playing against a regular couch potato. Get a bunch of people of a similar level together and track and field turns into a really enjoyable contest and is quite a funny sight on the highlight reel with players stood side by side running and jumping on the spot and looking quite worn out.

With different skill levels to master, online and party play, plus mini-game variants of the main competitions, there is plenty to see and do in Kinect Sports, despite containing no out-and-out career mode. Six games is more than enough to offer value for money and the individual events in track and field adds even more to this total – a golf game would have been nice though. The lag takes some getting used to and the less said about soccer the better, but provided you can be bothered to get up and get active, Kinect Sports is the definitive party game at this early stage of the hardware's life cycle.